


Tali'Zorah nar Sargasso

by articulatez



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, concussion, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28922667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/articulatez/pseuds/articulatez
Summary: Naval academy hopeful Daisy Shepard is dehydrated and running on the beach in Florida, a formula for disaster. Her bad luck is met with a new acquaintance and a chance to alter her destiny. One-shot!
Relationships: Female Shepard/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Tali'Zorah nar Sargasso

The Florida sun beat down an awful, humid heat, a storm gathering on the ocean’s horizon. Daisy Shepard was almost grateful that she’d buzzed her head before basic training started. She jogged in place, treading sand, and drank the last of her water. Getting a run in at the beach might not have been her brightest idea. Her calves ached. The pale skin on her shoulders and the back of her neck burned. The sweat wicking quality of her socks and sports bra were being seriously put to the test. To make matters worse, she’d intentionally parked far away so she’d have no excuse to quit without putting in five miles.

Catching her breath, bent forward with her hands on her knees and her face turned to the sand, she heard only her haggard inhales and the lapping of the waves as they crested the shore and kissed the soles of her boots. That was why she didn’t hear the “Heads up!” warning too late that a frisbee was on a collision course with her head. The frisbee hit her head, and then she hit the soggy sand, her vision a blur of throbbing stars in a pale blue sky.

“Oh, shit! Sorry!”

“Think she’s okay?” said the second muffled voice.

“Yeah. Definitely. Let’s get out of here, she looks like she could throw a punch.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Dave?”

Their voices and laughter faded, and Daisy groaned, touching the bump forming on her head as the pain receded.

“Damn beach punks,” she sighed. Hopefully she didn’t have a concussion. She pushed herself into a sitting position and knew at once that she had a serious concussion.

A girl bobbed upright in the waves. That wasn’t so unusual; some chose to bodysurf, using their natural buoyancy to coast in the push and pull of the water. What was unusual was the opaque purple helmet -- no, bubble -- obscuring her face. She wore the oddest wetsuit Daisy had ever seen, swirls of purple, black, and gold and every thread of it shimmered. Sequins? Scales? She couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing.

“Oh, fuck, I do not want to go to the hospital,” she said, splashing water on her face in an attempt to shake the hallucination.

Instead, the girl swam closer, cupping her hands to her mouth to call, “Are you alright?”

“I have a concussion!” Shepard yelled back, and threw up into the seafoam. The day went dark and dizzy, and through her confusion she felt lean, supple arms carrying her like ocean waves, grunting and cursing under her weight. The water beneath her back was sun-warmed, and when she awoke it was to rain gently falling on her cheeks.

“Careful. You are floating, and you’re safe,” the girl said. Her voice warbled, reverberating with an accent Daisy couldn’t place. Czech or Yugoslavian or…? It was airy and pretty.

Careful not to panic and thrash, she turned her head to look at the girl. Her bubble wasn’t completely opaque. She could make out the outline of features: a short, straight nose, triangular eyes that glowed like opals.

“You’re a pretty hallucination, you know that?” she said.

The girl scoffed. “Well, thank you, but I can assure you that I am not a hallucination. My name is Tali, and I saved your life. You had a head injury.”

“I already figured that out,” she said dryly. Kelp was stuck in her hair. She started to pull it off, stopping at the sharp pain. “This is a bandage, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It was a simple matter of finding a plant protein that would encourage blood clotting and reduce brain swelling,” Tali said.

Shepard swallowed hard. This was real. She shifted out of floating on her back to tread water. The shore was nowhere to be found.

Tali touched her. Her hand was oddly smooth, three long fingers that curled comfortingly around Daisy’s shoulder. “Try to slow your breathing. Think about it: Why would I save you and watch over you only to drown you at sea?”

That made sense. She forced herself to count her breaths. Four in, five out. “Okay. You’re right. So this is real. This is all real.” The rain fell faster now, her wet clothes and shoes clinging and chilling where the water would have kept her warm. Daisy quickly kicked off her shoes. “Even if I won’t drown I can still freeze, Tali!”

“This way!” Tali said, ducking her head. A thick, finned tail set in those familiar purple crescents splashed out of the water, waving her down.

Of course she was a mermaid. Whether it was dehydration, God, or the first hint of magic in an otherwise unlucky life didn’t matter. Tali felt real, and her intentions were good, and if Daisy didn’t follow her she had no chance. So she took a deep breath and headed underwater.

The otherworldly beauty of the ocean always filled Daisy with awe, and this was no exception. Where some people looked at the stars at night and wanted to explore their impossible, unknowable breadth, Shepard saw the ocean as the last great mystery of the Earth, the depths that they could never fully grasp. It muffled sound and light, and from it came life. All life. She pushed through her awe to follow the mermaid swimming towards the mouth of a cave, water funneling into it. The opening was barely her height and width, forcing her to shimmy tightly against the rock.

As soon as she had done so, Tali reached back and grabbed her hand, tugging her up into an alcove. Impossibly, a shelf of air was at the top of the cave. Daisy gasped, pulling her entire body onto the rocky shelf and grateful that she’d incorporated pull-ups into her workout routine.

Tali’s bubble popped up.

“Thank you. Again. Guess I can’t eat sushi anymore, huh?” Daisy sighed, taking off her hoodie to wring water out of it.

“Do you think I’m a fish?” Tali asked, and though Daisy couldn’t see it she heard a smile in her voice.

“Shepard.”

“What’s that?”

“My name is Shepard.” She stripped her shirt, pants, and socks, hanging them. The ocean water had washed away the musk of sweat but left her muscles glossy, and considering the stunned silence with which Tali stared at her she was grateful. “If you’re a fish, you’re the sweetest fish I’ve ever met.”

“I am not a fish!” Tali laughed. “I’m an aquarian!”

Daisy grinned and found herself a comfortable place to lean on the rocks that didn’t cut up her back. Glowing crystals tucked into the formations warmed the cave and her skin was already starting to dry, her shivering from the cold changing into trembling from excitement.

“The bubble, I’m assuming it’s so you can breathe outside the water?”

“Oh, I can breathe out of the water just fine,” Tali said. “It’s what’s in the air. Aquarian immune systems can’t filter the amount of toxins contaminating it. Our gills are adept at cleaning water. Air, not so much.” She sighed. “This cave will provide adequate shelter until the storm passes. Then, I can take you back to the beach.”

“I’m not in a rush,” Daisy said, smiling.

“Then you truly might have a concussion,” Tali said. “Those idiots could have killed you throwing their frisbee.”

“You seem familiar with humans. Sushi, frisbees; is there a reason for that?” Shepard asked.

“That would be my Pilgrimage. It’s a rite of passage aquarians take. We don a disguise and search coastal towns for resources to bring to our communities. In hour-long intervals we can walk on two legs, more or less. Balancing on feet is not easy.” That amused lilt entered her voice again. “No one is suspicious of a girl with a bubble on her head wobbling around at a rave. But enough about me. Why were you on the beach today?”

“I’m trying to get more in shape before boot camp,” she said. “The Navy. It’s a branch of our military.”

“I know what it is. Their flotillas are impressive. So you want to be a sailor?”

“Yeah. It’s what I knew, growing up. I could swim before I could walk, according to my parents. My mother was an executive officer. She disappeared three years ago, out at sea. They said she drowned but… I don’t believe it.” She went to push her hand through her hair, forgetting for a moment that she’d shorn it off in what felt like a symbolic move at the time. A fine, black fuzz covered her scalp instead, the hairline kissing the edge of the makeshift bandage. “So part of it’s legacy.”

“But part of you wants to honor your mother, if you can. I can relate.” Tali pulled herself onto the shelf beside Daisy and covered her hand with her odd three-fingered one.

The warmth of the crystals heated her cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Besides, if you’re anything like me, you are more interested in solving problems rather than dwelling on grief. You’re an interesting person. Not many would react so bravely to learning that aquarians exist. If I was going to share air with someone--” She stopped and shook her head, the bubble gently shaking with it. “Oh! Three years ago, something did happen. Our enemies resurfaced, so to speak, making themselves known in a typhoon that swallowed five aquarian vessels. But there was talk of human casualties.”

Shepard stared at her. “Tali, what are you telling me, that I’m getting caught up in an enormous, ancient conflict?”

“I’m telling you that you have two options,” Tali said. “Either I can take you back to shore, where you can become a sailor and live the life you said you wanted, or I can give you a means to breathe underwater, we can meet with my father the Admiral, and learn the truth, if we can.”

Time slowed to a crawl. Really, though, there was no doubt in her mind what she would choose. “How do I breathe underwater?” Shepard asked.

Tali paused. “I would kiss you. At a significant risk of a sinus infection for me, but you would be able to stay underwater as long as I wished.”

“Alright. Do it.” Shepard braced herself.

Tali’s bubble flickered and dissolved, leaving her milky, violet face exposed. Her opalescent eyes blinked, nervous, and gills flared at her neck. Her cheekbones were angular though not gaunt, and an appendage like an anglerfish’s bait hung over her forehead. Shepard shakily touched her cheek and found it soft.

Then Tali’s lips met hers. It was as if she’d forgotten how to breathe and remembered. It was as if she was being suffocated by light. It was as if her lungs were opening on her neck. Under all that, an eager, passionate kiss, her tongue darting, the strange, damp touch of her hands feeling Shepard’s abdomen and arms and back. Tali liked her muscles. Shepard’s gills flared to life and when Tali let go and moved back, Daisy touched their ridges, her eyes wide.

Wordlessly, Shepard dove into the water to seek what could be found in the universe at sea.


End file.
